The Piece of Lace (1910)
The story opens with a masked ball in Paris, at which we see Julie and Charles, two happy lovers, and almost at the same time are introduced to the element of discord in their love story in the person of Luigi Cordoza, whose love for a beau popular danseuse, Perdita, has given place to a reasonless infatuation with Julie. The dancer's jealousy is shown in this first scene when her former admirer leaves her and tries to force his attentions on Julie. Here it is made plain that these attentions are unwelcome, but the man's infatuation is so violent that Julie finds difficulty in keeping him at a proper distance. In her own apartments later, when she is expecting a visit from Charles, Luigi makes his appearance and implores her to marry him, an honor that she declines with distinct emphasis and disdain. Charles, entering at this moment, calls the other man to account and the quarrel, which had seemed imminent the night before at the masked ball, is taken up again. Unable to quiet the two men, Julie puts on her hat and disappears into the garden. The argument between the two is resumed, only to be interrupted by a telephone message informing Charles of a serious injury which his father has sustained. Hastily scribbling a note to Julie to the effect that he will return it the injury is not serious, he leaves it on the table, and, bidding Luigi leave the house, hurriedly takes his departure. Luigi does not go farther than the front door, but, returning, secretes himself to wait for Julie. Suddenly he becomes aware that his former mistress Perdita stands before him, and a violent quarrel between the two ensues. Meanwhile Julie has traversed the garden and entered her own room. While she and her maid are discussing a new hat with the little milliner who has brought it, they start at the sound of a pistol shot and note with horror a curl of smoke above the door. Stealing into the other room, Julie finds Luigi stretched upon the floor apparently dead and hastily sends for the police and a physician. She is of course unaware that Perdita has been in the house, and the latter, hidden behind a curtain, slips out unseen before the arrival of the officers, quite unconscious of the fact that in her struggle with Luigi for the possession of the pistol a bit of lace is torn from her dress and caught upon the buttons of his sleeve. When the officers arrive the man is pronounced dead, and then is made the startling discovery of Charles' not, which apparently refers to the injury to Luigi. Even Julie is stunned by this seeming confession of the fatal result of the two men's quarrel, but, bending over the murdered man, her fingers catch in the piece of lace with a button attached, and she begins to wonder (as it is a pattern of lace which she does not recognize) where it can have come from. We next see her following her own suspicions, and by a subterfuge entering the apartments of Perdita at the hotel and searching among the dancer's dresses for a lace which will match the tell-tale piece in her possession. The search is unsuccessful, but, realizing that her lover's life depends upon her finding proof, she disguises herself as a little working girl and succeeds in obtaining employment on the stage of the theater, where she is assigned to the unpleasant but in this case desirable duty of cleaning the dressing rooms. In this way she at last obtains entry to Perdita's room and there finds a dress trimmed with the same lace, and also discovers the hole which matches exactly with the torn edges of the scrap in which the button is attached. Scarcely has she arrived at this point when Perdita enters the room, whereby Julie springs to the door, locks it and the two women confront each other. Then follows what is probably one of the strongest scenes ever played in the silent drama, in which Julie charges the other woman with the murder for which her lover is being held, and step by step forces her not only to confess but to sign a written acknowledgment of the crime. Then, with the document safe in her possession, her woman's hart turns to kindness, and she helps Perdita to leave the country secretly before she carries her new-found evidence to the Magistrate's rooms where Charles' examination is in progress. Here arrival here is opportune, for the evidence has apparently been overwhelming against him, and it takes some seconds before he realizes that his release is not due to the little peasant working girl who disturbs the court procedure, but to Julie and her faithful love. The reunion of the lovers is a pleasing and fitting closing scene of this absorbing drama.
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GenresDrama
Short
IMDbPro
See more details at IMDbPro
| Filmmakers | Role |
|---|---|
| Ashley Miller | Director |
| Edward W. Townsend | Writer |
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Madame Pilar-Morin | |
| Robert Conness | |
| Bernardine Prissi Leist | |
| E.L. Fernandez |
